Mechanical toy.



W. H. HOBDEY. MECHANICAL TOY.

APPLICATION FILED 001.18, 1907.

Patented Mar. 23, 1909.

r-s Inn-ms PETERS cm, WASHINGTON. c. c

indicates a box-like structure provided with UNITED STAlLif; PATENTOFFICE.

WILLIAM I-IUTCHINSON HOBDEY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

MECHANICAL TOY.

Application filed October 18,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM HU'roniNsoN HOBDEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented a Mechanical Toy, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has relation to improvements in mechanical toys.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a mechanical toy inwhich figures of miniature horses .a pear to be racing in a life likemanner on t io stage of a miniature theatre.

A further object of this invention is to provide a mechanical toy whichis adapted, on a large scale, to be used as an attraction for store andshop windows.

A still further object of this invention is to provide means whereby inracing on the track the relative position of the horses will constantlychange in a ha hazard manner so that it will be im ossib e, at thebeginning of the race to pic out the winner.

A still further object of the invention is to rovide means whereby thehorses may be lined up at the starting post preliminary to the start ofthe race.

With the above, and other objects in view, the invention consists of theparts and their combination, and all equivalents thereof.

In the drawings, in which the same characters of reference indicate thesame parts in all of the views: Figure 1 is a perspective view of thecomplete device showing the horses approaching the wire at the finish ofa race; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the track taken online 2-2 of Fig. 3 Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 2 Fig. 4 is a side viewof a portion of the track, showing the clock work mechanism for movingthe horses; Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the track taken on line 55 ofFig. 2; and Fig. 6 is a sectional view of one of the blocks and afragment of one of the horses connected thereto.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 8 an opening 9 to represent theopening from the auditorium of a theater on to the stage. The stage ortrack consists of a block of wood 10 provided with a plurality ofparallel grooves 11 extending entirely around the block longitudinallyand vertically. The upper surface of this block is flush with the loweredge of the box opening and the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 23, 1909.

1907. Serial No. 398,030.

lower surface of said block is positioned a sufficient distance abovethe bottom. of the box to permit the horses to pass between the bottomof the box and the lower surface of the block. The block extends theentire length of the box and is secured thereto in any convenientmanner. To the right of the stage and in the rear of the block islocated the judges stand 12 with the grand stand in the back-groundimmediately in the rear of the judges stand, and a wire 13 is stretchedfrom the judges stand forwardly over the track and is connected to apost 14.

This post is known as the mile post'and the wire connected theretoindicates the finishing line or the end of the race. The mile post 14forms part of a rail fence 15 extending the entire length of the boxopening and in front of the track. This fence is duplicated in the rearof the track and is a representation of the regulation fence whichsurrounds all race tracks and is added to the track to produce a morerealistic re resentation of a race track. To the left of t re judgesstand is a post 16, known as the three-quarter mile post, and indicatesthat the distance between this post and the finishing wire isone-quarter of a mile. The shorter post midway between the judges standand the three-quarter mile post is known as the seven-eighths mile post.This representation of a race track indicates a mile and a quarter derbyor a track one mile and a quarter around, that is starting from thethree-quarter mile post and returnin is supposed to be just one mile,and from this post to the finishing wire adds the quarter mile to makethe mile and a quarter.

The track is formed of a single block of wood or other material, withgrooves formed therein or it may be made of alternate sizes of pieces ofwood the thickness of the grooves, fastened together to form a blockprovided with continuous grooves extending longitudinally in both theupper and the lower surfaces, and vertically, in the ends of the block.The vertical grooves are of greater depth than the horizontal grooves toprovide clearance for the horses passing therearound. A spool 17 extendstransversely through an opening near the right hand end of the block andits shaft 18 is mounted in the box. The opening in the block is slightlylarger than the spool to avoid frictional contact therewith, and thespool is of a diameter corresponding to the distance, vertically,between the bottoms of the grooves so that the pcriphery of the spool isflush with the bottom of said grooves. Pulleys 19 is loosely mounted ona shaft 20 supported in the block 10, are positioned in the grooves nearthe opposite end of the block, one pulley for each groove, and thesepulleys are of the same diameter as the spool 17 so that theirperipheries will also he flush with the bottoms of the grooves. Thespool 17 is connected to one wheel of a train of gear wheels 21 of theordinary clock work mechanism, and this mechanism is provided with theusual pendulum escapement and a power spring. A winding shaft 22 extendsthrough an opening in the box and is adapted to be wound up with a clockkey (not shown). The pendulum escapement gives the intermittent movementto the rollers which is very desirable in producing the realisticrunning effect of the horses.

The miniature figures of horses 23 are cut or stamped from sheet rubber,metal or other material, and one of the fore legs of each horse isconnected to an oblong slide or block of wood 24 provided with anopening 25 longitudinally therethrough. These oblong blocks are squarein cross section and are adapted to freely slide in the grooves 11 ofthe track block. The oblong slide blocks and their attached horses arecaused to slide in a haphazard manner in the grooves by means of endlesscables 26 passing loosely through the openings 25 in said blocks 24 andextending in the grooves 11 and around the idle pulleys 19 and the powerspool 17. These cables may be made of rubher hands, elastic tape orordinary string, but I find that spliced rubber bands which are of lesssize in cross section than the diameter of the opening through the slideblocks give very satisfactory results, as the frictional contact of therubber bands with the surface of the blocks surrounding the openings inthe slide blocks is sufficient to overcome the friction between theslide bloclm and the surface forming the bottom of the grooves andcauses said blocks to slide in a haphazard manner.

The horses being connected to the slide blocks by one of their forelegs, which is flexible, permits said horse to spring up and down whenit is moved forwardly in a haphazard manner by the intermittent movementof the power spool and cables, thereby causing said horses to appear tobe running in a realistic manner.

In order to start all of the horses from the starting post 16 at thesame time, stop pins 27 are adapted to be raised in the grooves in thepath of movement of the slide blocks 24, and these pins are connected toan operating lever 28 positioned in an opening extending transverselythrough the block 10 beneath the upper horizontal grooves, and in linewith the starting post 16. I Vhen the operatup preliminary to the start.

The operating lever 28 is provided with a pivot extension which ismounted in the block 10 and the operating handle 29 of this leverextends through an opening in one end of the box.

In starting a race the operating lever is passed downwardly to raise thestop pins in the grooves and the clock work spring is wound up by meansof a key thus starting the clock mechanism and the rotation of the powerspool clockwise. The cables in engagement with the spool will be causedto travel in their respective grooves and the slide blocks on which thehorses are mounted and through which the cables pass will be caused toslide in said grooves until they all line up against the stop pins atthe starting post. In this position the cables slip through the blocksand continue to travel with the intermittent rotation of the powerspool. The race is now started by lifting the operating lever whichmovement lowers the stop pins out of the path of movement of the slideblocks. As soon as the pins are down all of the horses start to travelwith their respective cables in a haphazard manner according to thevarying friction between the cables and the blocks and the walls formingthe grooves. Thus, they all go forward, perhaps all in a bunch, some arein the lead and others straggling behind, but all following the courseof the grooves, past the grand stand, out of sight behind the wing ofthe box and down and around the power spool, beneath the track in theopposite direction, up and around the pulleys, by the starting point,and down the home stretch to the finish beneath the Wire in front of thegrand stand thus completing the mile and a quarter race. I

In the travel of the horses around the track some of the slide blocksmay encounter more friction than others or may stick momentarily on thespool or pulleys, so that it is impossible to tell which horse will winthe race. The pendulum movement of the block works produces anintermittent jerky move- I ment of the elastic cables which produces ananimated forward and up and down movement of the horses due to theflexibility of the horses legs which are attached to the sliding blocks.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A mechanical toy, comprising a plurality of cables, figures looselyconnected to said cables, and means for moving the cables to move thefigures in a haphazard manner.

2. A mechanical toy, comprising a plurality of cables, figures looselyconnected to said cables, and means for intermittently moving the cablesto move the figures in a haphazard manner.

3. A mechanical toy, comprising a block, a plurality of cables movablyconnected to said block, figures loosely connected to said cables, andmeans for moving the cables to move the figures in a haphazard manner.

4. A mechanical toy, comprising a grooved track, a plurality of cablesmovably positioned in the grooves of said track, figures looselyconnected to said cables, and means for moving the cables-to move thefigures in a haphazard manner.

5. A mechanical toy, comprising a grooved track, a plurality of cablesmovably positioned in the grooves of said track, blocks movablypositioned in said grooves and loosely connected to the cables, figuresconnected to said blocks, and means for moving the cables to move thefigures in. a haphazard manner.

6. A mechanical toy, comprising a grooved track, a plurality of cablesmovably positioned in the grooves of said track, slide blocks providedwith openings positioned in said grooves and through which openings thecables pass and are loosely connected to said blocks,figures connectedto said blocks, and means for moving the cables to move the figures in ahaphazard manner,

7. A mechanical toy, comprising a grooved track, a plurality of cablesmovably positioned in the grooves of said track, figures positioned toslide in said grooves, means for moving the cables at the same rate ofspeed, and means for loosely connecting the figures to the cables tocause them to move at different rates of speed.

8. A mechanical toy, comprising a track, a plurality of cables adjacentto said track, means .for moving the cables at the same rate of speed,figures constructed to'move on said track, and means for looselyconnecting the figures to the cables to cause them to move at differentrates of speed.

9. A mechanical toy, comprising a grooved track, endless cables movablypositioned in the grooves of said track, slide blocks loosely connectedto said cables and positioned to slide in said grooves, figures flexiblyconnected to said slide blocks, and means for moving the cables to movethe figures in a haphazard manner.

10. Amechanical toy, comprising a track, a plurality of cables adjacentto said track, means for moving the cables at the same rate of speed,figures constructed to move on said track, means for lining up thefigures, and means for loosely connecting the figures to the cables tocause them to move at different rates of speed.

11. A mechanical toy, comprising a track,

a plurality of cables adjacent to said track, means for moving thecables at the same rate of speed, figures constructed to move on saidtrack, stops constructed to be moved into the path of movcmcnt ol saidfigures, and means for loosely connecting the figures to the cables tocause them to move at different rates of speed.

12. A mechanical toy, comprising a track, a plurality of cables adjacentto said track, means for moving the cables at the same. rate of speed,figures crmstructed to move on said track, a lever connected to saidtrack and provided with stop pins which. are constructed to be movedinto the path of movement of said figures, and means for looselyconnects ing the figures to the cables to cause them to move atdil'l'erent rates of speed.

13. A mechanical toy, comprising a track provided with a plurality ofgrooves extending therearound, a power spool connected to one end of thetrack, cables positioned in said grooves and in engagement with saidspool, slide blocks positioned in said grooves, and fi ures connected tosaid slide blocks, said blocks being loosely connected to the cables tocause the figures to move in a haphazard manner.

14. A mechanical toy, comprising a track provided with a plurality ofparalle grooves extending around said track in vertical plane, a powerspool connected to one end of the track, cables positioned within thegrooves and in engagement with the power spool, slide blocks positionedin said grooves, and figures connected to said slide blocks, said blocksbeing loosely connected to the cables to cause the figures to move in ahaphazard manner.

15. A mechanical toy, comprising a track provided with a plurality ofparallel grooves extending around said track in vertical plane, a powerspool connected to one end of the track, pulleys connected to theopposite end of the track, endless cables extending around said trackwithin the grooves and in engagement with the power spool and thepulleys, slide blocks positioned in said grooves, and figures flexiblyconnected to said slide blocks, said slide blocks being looselyconnected to the cables to cause the figures to move in a haphazardmanner.

16. A mechanical toy, comprising a track provided with a plurality ofparallel grooves extending around said track in vertical plane, a spoolconnected to one end of the track, a clock mechanism for actuating thespool, endless cables extending around said track within the grooves andin engagement with the power spool, slide blocks positioned in saidgrooves, and figures connected to said slide blocks, said slide blocksbeing loosely connected to the cables to cause the figures to move in ahaphazard manner.

17. A mechanical toy, comprislng a box provided with an opening, a trackprovided with a plurality of grooves extendingaround said track invertical plane positioned Within said box, a starting post locatedadjacent to said track, a finishing Wire positioned above the track,stop pins positioned to be moved into the grooves of the track in linewith the starting post and transv rsely to the track, a spool mountednear one end of the track, pulleys mounted near the opposite end of thetrack, endless cables extending around said track Within the grooves andin engagement with the spool and the pulleys, slide blocks positioned insaid grooves, figures fiexibly connected to said slide blocks, and clockwork mechanism With n said box for rotating the spool, said slide blocksbeing loosely connected to the cables to cause the figures to move in ahaphazard manner.

18. A mechanical toy, comprising a box provided with an opening, a trackprovided with a plurality of grooves extending aroum said track invertical plane positioned within said box, a starting post locatedadjacent to said track, a finishing Wire positioned above the track,stop pins positioned to be moved into the grooves of the track in lineWith the starting post and transversely to the track, a spool mountednear one end of the track, pulleys mounted near the opposite end of thetrack, endless elastic cables extending around said track Within thegrooves and in engagement With the spool and the pulleys, slide blockspositioned in said grooves, figures flexibly connected to said slideblocks, and clockwork mechanism Within said box 'for rotating the spool,said. slide blocks being loosely connected to the cables to cause thefigures to move in a haphazard manner.

WILLIAM HUTCHINSON HOBDE '1.

H 1 nesses.

KATHERINE DEY, W. H. BEVERUNG.

